The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29385.
This shaped up to be the easiest Guardian of the week, although I felt a sting in the tail in the SE corner. As often with Brummie, there is a theme, which has to be the films of Steven Spielberg (RAIDERS of the LOST ARK, JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS of the third kind, HOOK, BRIDGE of SPIES, The POST and LINCOLN), although there are some other films lurking around, most obviously PSYCHO standing next to JAWS (and with THE TERROR forming a kind of side theme). I did consider another aspect of a theme, that of the Oscars (which get a mention in 12A), but HOOK did not win any, although nominated for several. The other major features of the puzzle are the number of envelope clues, variously indicated, and the (shall we say) inventive anagrinds.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | OOMPH |
It loves most precipitous hill starts (5)
|
| A charade of OO (‘loves’) plus MPH (‘Most Precipitous Hill starts’). Yet another version of sex appeal. | ||
| 10 | MELANESIA |
Pacific islands object about having to accept English ways (9)
|
| An envelope (‘having to accept’) of E (‘English’) plus LANES (‘ways’) in MIA, a reversal (‘about’) of AIM (‘object’). | ||
| 11 | THE TERROR |
Revolutionary phase – article gets time wrong (3,6)
|
| A charade of THE (definite ‘article’) plus T (‘time’) plus ERROR (‘wrong’), for the most extreme period of the French Revolution, in full the Reign of Terror, but in French la Terreur. | ||
| 12 | ORCAS |
Unlikely Oscar for ‘Killers Working Together’ (5)
|
| An anagram (‘unlikely’) of ‘Oscar’. | ||
| 13 | RAIDERS |
Attackers of Republican supporters (7)
|
| A charade of R (‘Republican’) plus AIDERS (‘supporters’). | ||
| 15 | LINCOLN |
Nothing gets over pass ahead of northern city (7)
|
| A charade of LIN, a reversal (‘gets over’) of NIL (‘nothing’) plus COL (‘pass’) plus (‘ahead of’) N (‘northern’). | ||
| 17 | CLOSE |
Secret clubs don’t prevail (5)
|
| A charade of C (‘clubs’ e.g. in bridge game summaries) plus LOSE (‘don’t prevail’). | ||
| 18 | ARK |
Statecraft (3)
|
| Double definition, the ‘state’- being Arkansas, a traditional abbreviation (but not the US Postal Service approved AR), and the -‘craft’ being perhaps that of Noah. | ||
| 20 | ESSEX |
Queen’s favourite element: congress (5)
|
| A charade of ES (chemical symbol, Einsteinium, ‘element’) plus SEX (‘congress’), the ‘Queen’ being Elizabeth I. | ||
| 22 | ORBITAL |
Moon-like ring associated with tribal revelry (7)
|
| A charade of O (‘ring’) plus RBITAL, an anagram (‘revelry’) of ‘tribal’. | ||
| 25 | CUSTOMS |
Thumb prodded into awkward person in government department (7)
|
| An envelope (‘prodded into’) of TOM (‘Thumb’) in CUSS (‘awkward person’). | ||
| 26 | HAITI |
Republic locks king out – ‘It’s over!’ (5)
|
| A charade of HAI[r] (‘locks’) minus the R (‘king out’) plus TI, a reversal of IT (‘it’s over’). | ||
| 27 | VIBRAHARP |
Bigwig hides underwear (surprise!) right in instrument (9)
|
| An envelope (‘hides … in’) of BRA (‘underwear’) plus HA! (‘surprise!’) plus R (‘right’) in VIP (‘bigwig’), for an alternative name for the vibraphone.. | ||
| 30 | ORGIASTIC |
Debauched feature of corgi a sticking-point (9)
|
| A hidden answer (‘fearture of’) in ‘cORGI A STICking-point’. | ||
| 31 | SPIES |
Southern food plants (5)
|
| A charade of S (‘southern’) plus PIES (‘food’) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | LOST |
Military officer guarding extra-large stray (4)
|
| An envelope (‘guarding’) of OS (‘extra-large’) in LT (lieutenant, ‘military officer’). | ||
| 2 | IMPETIGO |
One’s favourite island has vitality that’s contagious (8)
|
| A charade of I’M (‘one’s) plus PET (‘favourite’) plus I (‘island’) plus GO (‘vitality’), for a bacterial skin infection. | ||
| 3 | THEE |
Old-style, you extracted teeth (not top) (4)
|
| An anagram (‘extracted’) of ‘[t]eeth’ minus its first letter (‘not top’). | ||
| 4 | AMBROSIA |
Continent holding back world money – delightful stuff! (8)
|
| An envelope (‘holding’) of MBRO, a reversal (‘back’) of ORB (‘world’) plus M (‘money’) in ASIA (‘continent’), for the food (or drink) of the Grecian gods. | ||
| 5 | PLURAL |
A pull-out includes recipe, more than one in fact (6)
|
| An envelope (‘includes’) of R (‘recipe’) in PLUAL, an anagram (-‘out’) of ‘a pull’-. | ||
| 6 | ENCOUNTERS |
Meetings to resist cutting measures (10)
|
| An envelope (‘cutting’) of COUNTER (‘resist’) in ENS (‘measures’ of width in typography). | ||
| 7 | PSYCHO |
Foreign spy ring confiscates church film (6)
|
| An envelope (‘confiscates’) of CH (‘church’) in PSY, an anagram (‘foreign’) of ‘spy’ plus O (‘ring’). | ||
| 8 | JAWS |
‘Aspects of vice’ lectures (4)
|
| Double definition; in the first, ‘vice’ is the gripping tool. | ||
| 13 | RECTO |
Toulouse-Lautrec took content that’s oddly-numbered (5)
|
| A hidden answer (‘content’) in ‘Toulouse-LautREC TOok’, for the right-side pages of a book. | ||
| 14 | ELECTRICAL |
Airline holds suitable IC cert. for a type of energy (10)
|
| An envelope (‘holds’) of ECTRIC, an anagram (‘suitable’?) of ‘IC cert.’ in EL AL (Israeli ‘airline’). | ||
| 16 | NAXOS |
Informal footwear on one backward holiday island (5)
|
| A reversal (‘backward’) of SOX (socks, ‘informal footwear’) plus AN (‘one’). | ||
| 19 | KICKBACK |
Give up rugby player as a sweetener (8)
|
| A charade of KICK (‘give up’ e.g. smoking) plus BACK (‘rugby player’), for a bribe. | ||
| 21 | SPORADIC |
Irregular Roman senate and people with nothing for queen on acid – deplorable (8)
|
| A charade of SPOR, which is SPQR (Senatus PopulusQue Romanus, ‘Roman senate and people’) with the Q replaced by O (‘with nothing for queen) plus ADIC, an anagram (‘deplorable’) of ‘acid’.
Adding the bit to make sense of the answer. While I am about it, I might also add that SPQR is the standard ancient Roman reference to their Republican governance, and continued in use after it became an Empire. |
||
| 23 | BRIDGE |
Watershed follows start of broadcast link (6)
|
| A charade of B (‘start of Broadcast’) plus RIDGE (‘watershed’). | ||
| 24 | LEVITY |
Live broadcast attempt is heartless frivolity (6)
|
| A charade of LEVI, an anagram (‘broadcast’) of ‘live’, plus T[r]Y (‘attempt’) minus its middle letter (‘is heartless’). | ||
| 26 | HOOK |
Peg trembled without a top (4)
|
| A subtraction: [s]HOOK (‘trembled’) minus its first letter (‘without a top’). | ||
| 28 | APSE |
Special lifts to be installed in hospital recess (4)
|
| An envelope (‘to be installed in’) of PS, a reversal (‘lifts’ in a down light) of SP (‘special’) in AE (‘hospital’? – but just a department, and the ‘in’ is required for the envelope indicator, even if ‘in hospital’ is seen as a suitable definition). | ||
| 29 | POST |
Society cuts bank job (4)
|
| An envelope (‘cuts’) of S (‘society’) in POT (a word with many meanings, the nearest to ‘bank’ being the money in a poker game) |
I actually thought the Wednesday puzzle was the easiest. This one was somewhat challenging for me, but not too bad. For 21D I didn’t understand the “Roman” piece, but Senate (S), People (P), with Nothing (O), Queen (R) and then the anagram of ACID worked to get SPORADIC.
SPORADIC
In SPQR, O for Q +ACID*
APSE
Agree with the blogger’s observations.
Ah, I see said the blind man. Thank you for the explanation!
Jay @1 It’s actually SPQR with O replacing Q. PeterO didn’t add that final bit, although he obviously saw it
Got it —thanks Russ
“ET” is hidden in IMPETIGO; don’t know if that counts for the theme.
It’s a pleasing irony that the extra-terrestrial ET, so often clued by setters simply as ‘film’, doing useful duty as a contributor to wordplay, does NOT feature here among the Spielberg titles. Thanks to Brummie for an excellent finish to a testing week
…. at least not directly, see gregfromoz above
No, I’m afraid the solving of this didn’t give much joy. Answers such as JAWS and OOMPH made me think, oh yeah? And I thought SPIES could just as easily have been Seats for Plants, with Eats as the food part. However the hidden ORGIASTIC was nice. The wrong side of bed. Out of. Probably the cause of my discontent this morning…
Did anyone else have SEATS for 31a for a while? Southern = S food = EATS and plants as in ‘to plant oneself down’/sit/seat? Which made SPORADIC even harder to get! I wish I had seen the theme sooner than I did – I might not have revealed JAWS but I was getting nowhere with that. COTD was ORGIASTIC which is a splendid hidden. I enjoyed the cunning constructions today and feel I must have been on the setter’s wavelength for much of the time, making that final defeat somewhat frustrating.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
Ronald: we crossed with similar points. You mention OOMPH – believe it or not, that’s the fourth time I’ve encountered it this week!
Woe is me – didn’t get the theme (thick as a brick) nor did I finish, as I missed seeing 31a SPIES and 8d JAWS. I reckon if I’d solved JAWS I might have stood a chance at realising there was a theme, but there are just so many possibilities with -A-S and I couldn’t really equate “JAWS” with “lectures” even when I saw the answer. NHO “CUSS” for an awkward person, which I needed to properly parse CUSTOMS at 25a. I also only half-parsed the already much-discussed SPORADIC, though I did have a vague memory of SPQR in the back of my mind somewhere.
I still had a fair bit of fun with this challenging puzzle, with HAITI at 26a my favourite.
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO. I loved realising just how many Spielberg films had been included. My only “filmic” thought was that 7d PSYCHO seems to be taking over a bit from ET as only needing “film” for its definition. Good spot of ET in IMPETIGO at 2d, gregfrom oz@6.
I have trouble equating ORBITAL with MOON-LIKE. Otherwise, apart from having to reveal PSYCHO and JAWS, an enjoyable solve. I also contemplated SEATS.
Thanks both
Didn’t twig that there was a theme, which might have made my LOI 31a, easier to get. I hardly leapt from _I_S being food to PIES.
Lovely puzzle. Too good for me. Needed a couple of reveals. LOI was SPIES. Fantastic clue. Must try Brummie again. Thanks to the blogger. I’m usually theme-blind. I did see PSYCHO. Thanks to the setter.
I did spot the theme, not that it helped much, it was JAWS one of my last in caused the pdm but it did help with SPIES.
Thank you to PeterO and Brummie
20a Element – which one do you think of first? Einsteinium, of course!
Tough and enjoyable – and I totally missed looking for a theme!
Favourites: HAITI; SPORADIC (very timely for me as I am reading Mary Beard’s book SPQR at the moment); ESSEX; NAXOS; SPIES.
New for me: IMPETIGO (well-clued); CUSS = an annoying or stubborn person or animal: (for 25ac); ES = the chemical element einsteinium (for 20ac); JAWS = lectures.
Thanks, both.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
A DNF – I revealed SPIES, not twigging them as “plants”. I also didn’t parse NAXOS, never having heard “sox”, and I didn’t spot ARK for Arkansas (btw why is the final S pronounced in Kansas but not Arkansas?)
There are lots of better ways to clue ES than “element”, surely?
I didn’t see the theme, of course.
It takes a bit of special pleading to make LOST and “stray” the same parts of speech.
Favourite RECTO for the hidden and the misleading definition.
The little ones were the worst! I don’t think I’d ever have got JAWS if I hadn’t been aware of the theme by then, and once I had RAIDERS and LOST there had to be an ARK (which I now realise I didn’t fully parse). Nor did I find the Einsteinium, though I guess all Pointless viewers should have heard of it by now. The HAITI/HOOK pair were last in.
New to me: the VIBRAHARP.
(Muffin@18: local Facebook pages full of posts about lost/stray cats)
Thanks Peter and Brummie. I found this on the tough side, thanks to vague/loose definitions rather than any great obscurity. Like PostMark @9, I thought first of SEATS rather than SPIES for 31. Didn’t spot the theme either, ho hum.
The harp version of vibra was a newie. And never quite got my head around recto: is it the side of a single leaf that is to be read first, which would an odd number, or the right hand page of an open volume, which could be even? Anyhoo, nice puzzle to potter through, though agree with Gladys @19, spies and jaws needed mental alpha. Ta Brum and Peter.
gladys @19
Surely a lost cat is missing, whereas a stray cat has been found, but its owner (staff?) are unknown?
I found this the toughest of the week. A DNF for me. As others, I had SEATS for SPIES and didn’t spot the theme. Had to reveal JAWS and SPIES in the end. Maybe I got out of the wrong side of the bed like ronald@8 but today’s didn’t raise many smiles for me.
Missed the theme and, while I completed the puzzle without help, I found some of the connections a bit too tenuous.
Way beyond me this morning, could not get on the wavelength at all. Glad others fared better.
reverting to ET – see @6 and @7 above.
There is a kind of hidden presence in the grid, if you alternate bits of 11 and 20 across, and then 14 down:
THE EX-TERR-ES-TRI [C] AL
maybe the TRA of extra is in there somewhere. Or is this all too silly?
12a ORCAS – ‘Killers Working Together’
Like gladys218 I also got hung up on HOOK, and the kingless locks in HAITI. Good clues though and unremarkable in hindsight. My last two in were the (also) intersecting ESSEX and NAXOS, heavy with G(?)K . With a 5 letter word, I thought that the Queen’s favourite (pet) might be a CORGI, before I half-revealed SPORADIC. I got the deplorable acid and the replacement of O for queen, but despite googling I never came up with the Roman senate. SPQR. Really? Pretty arcane knowledge, except for classicists.
Thank you FrankieG@27 for the link to ORCAS. I was familiar with their collective lethal enterprise for a feed. Very clever.
Postmark @9 yes – I confidently biffed in SEATS which worked until it didn’t 🙂
I found this the toughest of the week but I often struggle to get on Brummie’s wavelength
If you’re in A and E then you are in hospital? Not the first time we’ve seen this construction
Liked NAXOS, RECTO
Cheers P&B
There was a news story earlier in the week about a group of orcas ramming a yacht near the Straits of Gibraltar, eventually sinking it.
I remember a Sicilian friend joking that SPQR really means Sono Pazzi Questi Romani (these Romans are fools).
… or, sono porci … and, pdm @28, you can see those initials in Rome on eg public works like flagstones and metal grills etc.
poc @32: that gag is from an Asterix cartoon, probably still have it somewhere. I used to buy the versions in Italian to help my studies in that language. But who knows, maybe your Sicilian chum coined it first!
It’s a ghost theme, but the theme solutions have been made extra chewy. So if you’re not noticing the theme – as I wasn’t – it’s a bit of a slog to solve.
L2i: Jaws(1975) and …Spies(2015) – AMBROSIA LINCOLN Entertainment – featuring ET on the logo since 1984.
Thanks B&PO
Feeling a bit dim, today, through taking ages to see NAXOS by refusing to think of anything but boots and shoes for footwear . Der.
I had “SEATS” for 31A initially, where “food” equates to “eats”. A legitimate answer I think, as in ‘one seats oneself’ or ‘one plants oneself’ on a chair, say. I struggled with “sporadic” as a result. Perhaps paying more attention to the theme might have helped as I haven’t heard of the film “Bridge of Seats”.
Despite having RAIDERS and ARK early on, I failed to spot the theme, doh!
I liked the wordplays for MELANESIA and NAXOS, and the JAWS dd; SPIES was my LOI.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
gif@33 When in Rome, but I’ve never been to Rome. I was born in Roma, mid western Queensland, but that didn’t help.
Another SEATS but spotted SPORADIC quite late on. Didn’t get JAWS – lectures, really?
Otherwise straightforward and enjoyable.
Easiest of the week, but that didn’t mean easy. I had SEATS originally too, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t see the theme, again, which would have helped with JAWS etc. basically confirming a slightly dodgy clue.
Thanks both.
I’m another “D’oh!” for missing the theme. It does seem rather obvious in retrospect.
I needed the blog for a couple of the parsings, in particular SPORADIC. (The “nothing for queen” bit makes it a replacement clue of the sort we were discussing a few days ago.)
11a reminded me how Jolly Swagman (one-time regular commenter here) used to refer to “the Ximenean Terror” – he was not a fan of Ximenes and the way some people take his “rules” as holy writ 🙂
Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
FrankieG
Good spot of Amblin’ – as well as the company, it’s the name of an early Spielberg short. And thanks for the Frozen Planet clip – series narrated by David Attenborough, whose brother starred in Jurassic Park. That might be a bit of stretch for the theme, though!
I found this a tricky solve but getting the theme really helped with the shorter clues. Peter0 many thanks for the very helpful blog. I was unable to parse POST or APSE without you, and I needed the theme for SPIES and HOOK. Is it possible that 18A is a triple definition? My first thought was HMS Ark Royal…. My favourites were SPORADIC and ORGIASTIC.
Many thanks Brummie 😎.
[Earworm for those who want it https://youtu.be/-bTpp8PQSog?si=u-qzpLumo0sonfrI
[Shirl@16, not my first thought either. Even when I got the answer I thought S for sulphur and gave up on the first E…]
Overall an entertaining solve. However I had to reveal 31A and remain unhappy about ‘plants’ as a synonym for ‘spies’: seems a bit loose to be, but anyway.
I wasted some time trying to squeeze ET into 7D somewhere before the crosser from 15A bailed me out.
And as usual I completely missed the theme.
Muffin@18 Fun fact: allegedly, it is illegal in Arkansas to pronounce the state name as Ar-Kansas.
I say allegedly because I find it hard to believe such a law would survive America’s stringent free speech protections.
I beg to differ, I thought this was the trickiest of the week, especially the south east. I had five left over. Lots of ticks, including SPORADIC, ORCAS and ESSEX. With thanks to Brummie and PeterO.
Got most of the puzzle last night, half a dozen left for today, liberal use of the check button.
Even if I’d thought to look for a theme I’d never have spotted this oe.
Never heard of VIBRAHARP or SPQR.
What’s with “element”? There’s a hundred and climbing of ’em, who’s to know it’s that one? and an obscure one to boot.
Me too for SEATS.
muffin@22 The lost cat and the stray cat may be the same cat. I hope not one of yours!
Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
Yes, Postmark @9, I also had SEATS for 31a. And I enjoyed the Roman reference. Sono Pazzi Questi Romani!
Brummie has certainly raised the level of difficulty this year. This was a very satisfying solve with some neat clues and l loved the theme as l regard Spielberg as a master film maker. Favourite was Haiti – very clever. Many thanks to Brummie and PeterO
Jacob@46
ARK
https://onlyinark.com/culture/top-11-absurd-arkansas-laws/
I found this site (verified on a few other sites too. They all say the same thing more or less), which says there is no such law or at least there is nothing illegal about mispronouncing the name of this state.
Enjoyable solve. I didn’t find it easy, but it was satisfying. Each to their own: I rather liked OOMPH and the definition for ORBITAL.
😂 Shirl@16. I agree.
Did somebody say Stray Cats? Finally an ear-worm to get the woeful “SPIES Like Us” out of my brain
I didn’t find it the easiest. Different strokes…..
Easily the most difficult of the week if you ask me!
Thanks Brummie. The left hand side was nearly a write-in for me but I struggled to solve the right hand side; I ended up revealing JAWS; had I looked for a theme I might have guessed it. I thought of ‘seats’ for 31a but not seriously enough to write it in. My favouites were ORCAS, ORBITAL, SPIES, and RAIDERS. Thanks PeterO for the blog.
gif @21
Re RECTO: the text of a book generally starts on the right-hand page, with the left-hand page either blank, or with some introductory words, so the right-hand (recto) page of an open book is an odd-numbered one.
Checking in late, a lot of work today, otherwise I generally catch PeterO ‘s blogs early…
DNF, didn’t get “Spies”, couldn’t parse “Sporadic”, SPQR never occurred to me in spite of my having read Mary Beard’s book with that very title…
Saw “The Terror”, “Jaws”, “Psycho”, thought “Ah! A Theme!” (viz: Horror Films) and not finding any other evidence to support this theory, promptly discarded the idea of a theme altogether…
Definitely not my day in the sun…
Thank you to Brummie and PeterO
Thanks for the blog , good set of clues , the little ones needed the most thought, VIBRAHARP and SPORADIC were good constructions.
Dave@12 all moons orbit a planet so ORBITAL seems fine.
The return of Enigmatist tomorrow . Fat chance.
I only half saw the theme as simply “movies” and didn’t recognize all of them. I thought RECTO was a bit cheeky having Toulouse just along for the ride. Liked LINCOLN. SPORADIC takes the cake for bizarre surface of the week.
I believe Arkansas as the river can be pronounced ar-Kansas.
Awesome sarcasm, Shirl@16. I shall now attempt to construct a clue with Mendeleevium indicated only by “element”.
Thanks, Brum & Peter, particularly for the SPQR nugget.
I had seats instead of pies, but probably would not have got 21d anyway.
Otherwise enjoyed, thanks
Thanks both and all.
Not the most enjoyable week imho but it’s free* it’s online and it entertains me so no call for any level of complaint. I only pipe up to thank all regular contributors (but particularly FrankieG these days: always positive and informative, with a side order of wit. Not that I don’t love you all equally of course…..).
*(I do of course toss a bob towards the Guardian in appreciation (lest it be thought otherwise).)
Roz @ 59 Buy the Daily Toryrag every other Friday and you’ll get a Toughie by Enigmatist in his Elgar guise.
I was uncomfortable with a number of these clues, although they were eminently gettable.
However, with 22A – ORBITAL – I think the definition is “Moon like ring” with ring doing double duty. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense.
Thanks for the fun and blog.
Roll on the quick cryptic…
Complete failure despite 3 sittings at this.
Ah yes of course, GrannyJP @57, ta for that.
[pdm @39, my ex’s rellies have farms in the Wandoan area, not far from Roma]
JinA@11
Notice in London buses about Request Stops many years ago:
At the bus stop raise your hand
The driver he will understand
To which someone added:
He’ll understand, the awkward cuss
But will he stop the bloody bus ?
Simon@63 thank you but I would not dirty my hands, at least the FT still has IO .
Mystogre@64 all moons are ORBITAL , when Sputnik was launched it was called Russia’s little moon. Other early launches were announced by saying- The Earth has a new moon.